


Gotta Get Thru This

by StrawHatShawny



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Teen Angst, Teen Crush, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-04 00:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawHatShawny/pseuds/StrawHatShawny
Summary: Shortly after "Jade Gets Crushed", Andre and Jade find themselves in quite the predicament when they confess their feelings for each other. The situation takes a turn for the worse when Tori begins pining after Andre. After going through months of heartbreak, revenge, romance, and redemption; who will Andre end up with in the end?





	1. Can't Get My Mind Off Of You

**Chapter One: Can't Get My Mind Off Of You**

It was late at night. Many hours after his big performance at the school.

Andre Harris was having trouble going back to sleep. The topic that was on his mind at the time continued to bother him.

* * *

"Jade who?" he jokingly said to Tori, as he walked off to hang out with the girl he met earlier that night.

* * *

Andre found it frightening that his mind once again found itself focused on the dark-haired girl.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked himself while staring at his room ceiling.

He remembered back to the other night when he recognized his feelings for Jade.

* * *

The late night recording session.

The surprisingly sweet side of Jade that he once thought didn't exist.

The angelic voice that she had as she sang that night.

That cute little smile on her face that made him feel as if reality was a dream.

* * *

All of this rushed through his mind as if it was a swirling whirlpool of confusing thoughts.

You see, Andre has never felt like this about any girl. Well, there was one other.

"Tori!" he said, sitting up in his bed and picking up his phone.

There were four missed calls and two voicemails left from Tori.

Even though his mind was now focused on Tori, a recent memory caused him to go back to Jade.

* * *

Andre was sitting on the couch at Tori's house and staring at a Jade-like Tori.

"…I'll be way meaner to you." said the Jade-like Tori.

She was acting too much like Jade. As much as he like the sweet side that Jade had hid, Andre found something attractive about her mean side.

His mind became blank at that moment, the only thing he could think of was Jade, nothing but Jade.

Tori began to look more and more like Jade. It even got to the point where he felt as if he was back in the recording studio with her.

Everyone became second to him, even his best friend Beck.

 _Beck who?_ he thought, as he began to lean closer and closer towards Jade.

All he wanted was just one kiss. One kiss to build a dream on. One kiss for everything to be perfect.

As he moved closer, Jade moved even closer until their lips almost touched.

"Oh, Jade…" he moaned as his perfect dream was almost a reality.

Strangely, at that moment, Jade suddenly yelled.

"Andre!"

But something was wrong with her voice, it sounded… like Tori's.

 _What the hell!_ he thought, as he soon felt a pillow hit him in the face.

* * *

Andre woke up.

He found himself laying on the floor and realized he was sleeping sitting against the headboard and accidentally fell over.

His head was hurting but not only because he fell on the floor, but because his thoughts were ricocheting against his skull.

One of these thoughts frightened him.

_Beck._

"I can't possibly betray my best friend like that." Andre said, sitting on the floor and rubbing his forehead. "But… I almost did… in my mind at least and I didn't even care about how Beck would feel at all."

Still sitting on the floor, Andre fell into a deep thought.

He remembered being on stage, singing with Tori and constantly focused on Jade.

* * *

How come Jade all of a sudden looked so beautiful to him?

It was like for years being in the presence of a disguised angel and you've just discovered the part of them that is angelic.

Don't get him wrong, Andre didn't forget about the other side of Jade. He knew that she wasn't all nice and sweet.

But he didn't care about her nasty side.

Not really.

He does remember the look on Beck's face that night.

It was like he was completely oblivious to what was going on.

At that point, that's where Andre wanted it to be.

He knew it was wrong, but what could he possibly do about it.

In his mind, Jade was… something special to look at.

To think about.

To talk about.

To hear about.

* * *

It was like there was no end to the insanity he was feeling.

He had to go somewhere.

It was almost 9:30 in the morning and the sun was out.

After getting himself together, Andre walked around the neighborhood and found himself confronted by Cat.

Cat was standing on the corner of the street and was apparently trying to sell toothpaste flavored cupcakes.

Andre found it strange… wait… he'd been around Cat long enough not to find this weird.

As soon as Cat saw Andre, she ran up to him waving two cupcakes at him.

"Toothpaste Cupcakes!" she yelled, "The minty flavor of toothpaste inside a tasty cupcake! Want one?"

Not wanting to hurt her feelings, he decided to just tell her that he had a very large breakfast.

"You look like you haven't been sleeping well." she said, as the both of them walked towards her Toothpaste Cupcake stand, "Still thinking about Jade?"

It felt as if his heart stopped beating and his lungs were being squeezed.

_How did she… When did she… Gotta play this off and act calmly._

Cat continued to look at him as if she was waiting for him to react with a quick lie.

"Are you kidding me? Why would I be thinking about Jade?" he said quickly, "I mean, she's a friend, but c'mon. I don't think about her like that."

Cat began to giggle, "You are such a bad liar. I saw the way you looked at Jade after the two of you hugged last night."

He remembered it too well.

* * *

As Jade and he saw each other, she began to walk towards him and they hugged.

There were other times when they hugged, but something was different about this time.

He could feel how warm she was.

How soft she was.

The noticeable fragrance that she was wearing.

Whatever the factor was, it made him want to hold her close to him and never let her go.

But eventually he knew that he had to. Especially to not draw any attention from those standing near them.

As he pulled away from Jade, he could see that she was smiling at him.

He felt the need to tell her something.

Something.

Anything.

But no word could describe how he was feeling at that moment.

So he remained silent.

* * *

"Yoo-hoo! Andre, are you still there?" asked Cat, waving her hands in his face.

"Oh uh, yeah, it's just something came to my mind." he said, "I have to go. Good luck selling those cupcakes."

As he began to walk off from Cat's cupcake stand, he could hear Cat calling to him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her a thing."

Andre didn't exactly know how to feel about that. But at that moment all he could to do was trust that Cat wouldn't tell Jade a thing.

He had to play it off, of course.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Cat."

Continuing to walk around the neighborhood, he knew there was one person that he needed to talk to.

"Tori."


	2. Is It Just Infatuation?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeking solutions to his dilemma, Andre turns to an unlikely and unusual source for help.

**Chapter Two: Is It Just Infatuation?**

It was almost noon and Andre found himself heading towards Tori's house.

* * *

He felt as if he was infected with a love sickness and he was once again going to the doctor for a cure.

* * *

Getting herself ready to leave the house, Tori found herself staring at a photo of both Andre and her.

Andre was Tori's best friend and she cared for him very much. Her only problem was that Andre never showed any serious interest in her…

When Tori heard from Andre that he might be in love with Jade, it nearly killed her.

 _Of all the girls for him to fall in love with, it had to be Jade._ she thought as she looked at the photo.

_After all of our history and… nothing. No feelings in return._

Slowly becoming depressed, Tori decided to stop thinking about the possibility of both Andre and Jade together.

* * *

As she opened up the front door, she almost bumped into Andre.

"Oof! Sorry. Didn't see you there." she said, "What are you doing here?"

Andre began to try to put together his explanation, "Well, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I should come by and visit."

The look on Tori's face instantly told him that she didn't believe a word he said.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"No, truth is…" he began.

Tori knew what was coming. Andre would tell her that he's still in love with Jade and that he couldn't stop thinking about her.

Let's see if she was correct.

* * *

"…I'm in love with you. I was always in love with you. I was misguiding my feelings for you towards Jade. Her singing only reminded me of you." 

Tori couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Ever since I first saw you, I only knew one thing: I wanted you. But I was blinding myself, denying my true feelings for you." Andre continued.

He began to walk towards Tori and closed the door behind him.

Brushing her hair lightly, he slowly moved his lips towards hers and they kissed.

"I love you, Tori. And I always will." he said, looking deeply in Tori's eyes.

What a cliché.

* * *

Tori was completely speechless of what was going on.

Andre's hand began to move downward and he began to unbutton Tori's shirt.

Both of them could hear each other breathing heavily.

They both knew where things were going, but they would rather let it be a surprise to themselves.

"How about we take this upstairs?" he asked, with a look of deep interest.

He began to gently rub his hand against her waist. The excitement overwhelmed her to the point where all she could do was smile.

Andre then picked her up and began towards the stairs.

Once they reached her room, Andre continued to slowly take off her clothes and began kissing every inch of her body.

It began to drive her insane… but it was too good to resist.

"Don't stop." she squeaked as she breathed heavily, tensing up more and more until…

* * *

"Tori! Tori! Are you alright?" asked Andre, as he watched Tori leaning against the door and staring at him intensely.

She finally woke up, realizing what was going on.

Andre could see that Tori was blushing bright red, he thought it made her looked cute.

"Are you alright?" he asked again.

"Uh, yeah, I'm good. I just have… I have to be somewhere, that's all." Tori said hurriedly, walking past Andre.

Andre could tell that there was something wrong with Tori, "Wait up. Seriously, tell me what's wrong."

Tori couldn't hold it anymore, she had to ask Andre if he was still thinking about Jade, but not in the sense that it would reveal her feelings for him.

"Are you still thinking about… Jade?" she asked, forcing herself to sound calm.

* * *

You could easily hear the dead silence between the two.

Andre knew the answer and hated the fact that it was true.

Tori knew the answer as well, and it was killing her.

"Tori… " he paused.

That was all she needed to hear.

She received an answer and didn't like it.

She could feel a tear coming, so she quickly came up with an excuse to leave Andre.

"Look, I really have to go. I'll try to come up with a way to help you later." she said, quickly walking away from Andre and slowly disappearing down the street.

A wise man once said, _Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all._

He obviously didn't know about teen love.

Of all the people whom Andre could talk to, Tori was his number one confidant.

And she had to go off somewhere.

Poor boy… focused on a love he knew was impossible, but ignorant of the one that was always there.

* * *

Feeling even more depressed than ever, Andre continued walking around the neighborhood.

Stopping at various locations, trying to clear his mind.

It was almost 5 o'clock and Andre was sitting out at the beach.

* * *

 _Is it just infatuation?_ he thought to himself.

He knew this girl for about three years. Give or take a few months.

For as long as he could remember, he never found anything interesting about Jade… and by _interesting_ he meant _attractive_.

Now he wasn't saying that he thought that Jade was ugly back then and pretty now.

No, that was far from it.

What Andre meant was that Jade never seemed like his kind of girl.

You know… great kisser, really pretty, smart, friendly, nice shape, cheerful, a little bit flirty, and could range from redheads to brunettes.

I think you get the picture now.

But wait… Jade did fit most of this criteria.

She was really pretty, a brunette (months ago, but now she had raven-black hair, which she still looked hot with), smart, had a **very** nice shape and from what he could tell… a great kisser.

Andre only dislike the fact that Jade was… well… scary at times.

There was just something intimidating about Jade, especially when she looked deep in his eyes.

But that wasn't the case when he looked deep in her eyes that night when she was showing him that cute hand trick.

Instead of feeling intimidated, Andre felt… fuzzy.

* * *

"Fuzzy." he said to himself

"Fuzzy? What's fuzzy?" asked a familiar voice.

It was none other than Mr. Sikowitz, standing under a tree.

"Nothing… just nothing." Andre said, standing up.

He began to walk away from the beach, until Sikowitz spoke.

"Coconuts themselves are fuzzy… contains delicious milk, hurt like hell when one falls on your head, but the main reason why I love them is because they give me visions. And when the time calls for it, they help me focus… sometimes."

It was completely silent at that point.

"What exactly are you getting at?" Andre asked.

Sikowitz then reached into his bag and pulled out a coconut.

"Here have one." he said, throwing the coconut at Andre.

"What's this for?" asked Andre, holding the coconut in his hand.

"What's what for?" Sikowitz responded.

"This coconut."

"Oh, I'm just walking around the beach, giving random people coconuts."

"Why?"

"Cause it's Saturday, of course." he said, walking off from the beach and handing a police officer a coconut.

Sikowitz. One very strange fellow.

Andre looked down at the coconut and began thinking.

"Hmm, maybe, just maybe."

As he left the beach, he could see Sikowitz being chased by two police officers.

"Good luck to ya, Sikowitz, good luck to ya."

* * *

Heading back home, Andre took a screwdriver from out of the kitchen drawer and punctured a hole in the coconut.

This had to be one of the craziest things that Andre was about to do… well, maybe second craziest. I mean, after all, he's supposedly in love with Jade.

After pouring the coconut milk into a glass, he then began to drink it.

It tasted alright, he thought.

Slowly he began to focus.

* * *

 _I'm in love with Jade._ he continued to think, _Singing my song didn't work as well as I thought._

_Tori's trying to help, but she's busy._

_Cat is selling toothpaste cupcakes._

_Robbie… I'm not even gonna go there._

_Can't bother Beck… can't face him while I'm like this._

* * *

Sighing heavily, Andre knew there was only one person that he had to go to.

As much as he hated it, he knew he had to do it.

"I have to speak to Jade."

"Face to face."


	3. Can't Help Myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With his mind clear for the first time in weeks, Andre goes on a search for Jade. Little do they know that this is only the start of their journey together.

**Chapter Three: Can't Help Myself**

Andre waited until later that night to finally go out on his search for Jade.

 _Maybe she's at Jet Brew._ he thought, walking down the heavily lit street.

At this point, Andre was fully focused.

His mind was never clearer than at that moment.

He knew what he had to do.

He had to take the risk.

He had to tell Jade the truth.

He only prayed that her reaction would not destroy his friendship with Beck.

* * *

"Hey, Andre." said a voice behind him.

It was Beck, walking out of Jet Brew and sipping on a large cup of coffee.

 _Remain calm._ Andre thought to himself, _Can't afford to make him suspicious._

Andre had to play this off well in order for Beck to remain oblivious of his feelings for Jade.

Let's see how he does.

* * *

"Sup, Beck." Andre responded.

"What'cha doing?"

"Just walking around town. actually I was looking for Jade."

"What do you need her for?"

"I need her to hear a new mix of the song that she helped me with."

"Well, do you have it on a flash drive? Cause I could take it to her."

"Uh… well, I couldn't find a flash drive of mine that actually had room for the song. So I had to save it onto my phone."

"Well, can I hear it?"

"I really wanted Jade to hear it first, so she could help add some new ideas to it. Once the song is perfect, that's when everyone else can hear it."

"Oh… well, Jade recently left to go to this outdoor horror film festival down by the park downtown."

"How come you didn't go with her?"

"Couldn't. Have to help my dad install a new air conditioner into the RV."

"Oh… well… I'll talk to you later."

"Sure…"

Awkward. Seriously awkward.

Both of them began to walk away from each other.

Eventually, Andre wasn't able to see Beck at all.

* * *

With Beck nowhere to be seen, Andre took off running towards downtown.

This was insane.

Mad dashing through the streets, bumping into pedestrians, avoiding oncoming cars and for what?

His best friend's girl.

Andre knew in his heart that this was ridiculous.

He was doing something completely crazy…

But wait… love does make even the sanest person do crazy things.

Or is this infatuation?

Only Andre knew the answer to that.

* * *

After running four blocks straight, Andre was quickly approaching the park where the film festival was.

_Almost there. Almost there._

* * *

Five minutes of running through the streets and he finally arrived at the park.

 _Now for the hard part: Finding Jade._ he thought.

Walking throughout the crowd, Andre found it difficult to pinpoint Jade from the rest of the similarly dressed people.

It wasn't until he heard that familiar voice ring through the crowd.

"What do you mean you're sold out?"

"You heard me. We're out of tickets."

"That's bull! The two guys that were in front of me asked if there were any more tickets for their friends and you said there were only 20 left."

"That's your word against mine."

"I can't believe this!"

Andre saw the opportunity to intervene and took it.

"Excuse me, but what's going on here?"

"This insane bitch won't take no for an answer." said the very short ticket vendor.

"I'll show you what a bitch I am!" yelled Jade.

* * *

Blocking Jade from the vendor, Andre then said, "Don't call her a bitch. That's disrespectful… Now do you have extra tickets or not?"

The ticket vendor stared at Andre for a moment and felt intimidated by his muscularly presence.

"Oh, alright! I was lying! We do have more tickets, but I wouldn't sell them because I was planning on selling them to some friends of mine."

"You sick son of a-." said Jade, trying to get around Andre.

"Now was telling the truth so hard?" asked Andre, cutting Jade off and continuing to hold her back.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I won't do it again. It was wrong of me." responded the vendor, who looked frightened.

"Thank you. Now two tickets please." said Andre, as the vendor ripped two tickets from the roll of tickets.

Andre never found himself to be intimidating in any way, but at this moment he felt empowered.

He also found it pretty cool how he refrained from cussing to intimidate someone. It was more of a "sophisticated" version of threatening someone.

He did however felt like blurting out "Now fuck off!" or "Kiss my ass!" but he decided to keep it clean… for now.

After giving Jade the other ticket, Andre leaned over the ticket counter and said, "I hope that this has taught you that lying, calling women "bitches" and being an asshole towards others will get you nowhere. And that if anything like this ever happens again, some very unpleasant things will happen. And don't take it as a threat, no no, consider it a promise yet to be fulfilled."

"Okay. Sorry for the trouble. Enjoy the festival."

* * *

After the intense situation, Andre now faced the horrific challenge that awaited him.

"Hey, I really appreciate what you did. What exactly are you doing here?"

"I'm a lover of horror films. Blood, gore, can't get enough of it."

"No, seriously, why are you here?"

"Um… I came here because I actually had to tell you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

Andre took a deep breath and prepared for the worse.

"Don't take it the wrong way… but… during the past couple of days… I've had a crush on you."

...

"What?"

Jade began walking close to Andre. A feeling of fear began to rush through him.

"You do know that Beck and I have been dating for more than two years?"

"Yeah, but-"

"What kind of idiot are you? I'm dating your best friend and you go ahead and say that to me?"

"No! I didn't mean it that way!"

"And what do you expect me to do? Break up with Beck and go out with you?"

"No! If you would just listen!"

"You asshole! Get away from me!"

"Jade, wait!"

"Don't ever talk to me again!"

* * *

As Jade walked away, Andre felt a deep resentment for what he had done.

His entire friendship with Beck was sure to end due to this and his friendship with Jade was sure to end as well.

Even though Andre wasn't looking for anything serious with Jade, especially since she was dating Beck, Andre still needed to get it off of his chest that he loved Jade.

He was an idiot.

A fool.

What did he expect for her to do?

Admit that she was in love with him from Day One?

Break up with Beck?

Go out with him and live happily ever after?

No.

He didn't…

It was all in his mind…

* * *

Andre found himself standing in front of Jade at the film festival.

He didn't talk to her yet.

And found it hard to form words.

Not surprising to say the least.

Jade was standing there with that curious look on her face.

That really cute, curious look.

"Andre? Is something wrong?"

…

The tension was increasing.

Words were rushing around in his head.

Out of all of the millions that were there, three simple yet complex words blurted out.

He couldn't help himself.

"I love you."


	4. Not Bad At All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally coming face-to-face with his crush and spilling all of his emotions, Andre anxiously awaits for how Jade will respond.

** Chapter Four: Not Bad At All **

What could be said about this?

A guy blurts out that he loves a girl who's already taken.

What exactly happens next?

The girl could admit to the boy that she loves him and that she'll break up with her boyfriend.

Unlikely.

The girl could call the boy an asshole and ask that he never talk to her ever again.

Also unlikely.

I know, it's hard to believe, too.

Or the girl could kill the boy right then and there with a pair of scissors that was concealed behind her belt.

You know, for bringing all of this bullshit into her life.

But that too was unlikely.

So what the hell is going to happen?

It's time we find out…

* * *

Andre stood there, speechless at what he had just uttered.

Jade stood there, speechless at what she had heard.

This was it, Andre knew that it was only going to go downhill from here.

It was only a matter of who spoke first…

"What did you just say?" asked Jade.

…

Andre stood frozen.

Tired of waiting for him to answer, Jade pulled Andre behind a vendor stand for some privacy.

"Did you just say… that you love me?" she asked again.

…

"Talk… Now…" she said forcefully.

Jade didn't necessarily look like she was angry at him, but more in a sense of being tired of his inability to talk.

"Yes… I did say… that I love you." Andre said hesitantly.

"Andre…" Jade muttered, but stopped because of a loss for words.

"Jade… look… I know that you and Beck are together, and it's not like I'm hoping that you'll break up with him… I just needed to get it off of my chest… It was driving me crazy… And was also the reason why I was acting so weird the past couple of days." Andre quickly said, trying to get everything out into the open as quickly as possible.

At that moment, Jade's eyes opened up slightly.

"That song! I knew it! That song was meant for me. I thought it was sorta strange how you kept looking at me, but…" she said, stopping for a second.

"I had thought that by singing my song, to everyone including you, would help me get rid of these feelings. Although I did had to switch your name with "baby", that way no one would have been suspicious." Andre said, feeling as if all the pressure was starting to lift off of him.

"Wow…" said Jade, stopping again, "When did… you know… this all started?"

"The night that you helped me with my song. When you were singing… you just looked so beautiful. It was as if you were a different Jade." said Andre, staring deep in Jade's eyes, "And it wasn't just the fact that you looked beautiful that night, it was also how harmonious your voice was and how kind and sweet you were."

Jade stood there for a moment.

She never seen Andre in this type of position before.

She knew that there was something funny about Andre's behavior the past couple of days, but was she really blind of the fact that he liked her?

At the moment, that didn't really matter.

She knew the truth now and that was all that matters.

But little did Andre know… Jade also had a little secret of her own.

"Alright… I'll admit it… I kinda had a small crush on you, too… A "small" one." she said.

Deep down in Andre's heart, millions upon millions of tiny fireworks were going off.

 _A small crush! Hot damn!_ he thought joyously, _Calm down, Andre, calm down. Don't get too excited._

But then something unexpectedly happened.

The two of them stood there, waiting for the other to respond.

* * *

It wasn't until Jade responded that things got "interesting".

"Oh, fuck it!" said Jade, as she walked up to Andre and kissed him passionately on the lips.

Andre found it rather difficult to keep his raging hormones from continuing to kiss Jade.

But Andre felt different after awhile.

 _I need to stop this. This isn't right._ thought Andre, as Jade pushed him against the wall of the park bathroom that was behind them.

But he kept going on with it.

He didn't care about Beck.

_Who the hell was Beck?_

* * *

"How about we take this to somewhere more private." said Jade, as she pulled Andre behind one of the projection screens.

Andre couldn't say "no" to a girl as smoking hot as Jade.

The chance was presented to him and he went ahead and took it.

"I like the way you're thinking." said Andre, allowing himself to be guided by Jade.

Lucky for them, there was an empty equipment tent with just enough room for the two of them.

Entering the tent, Jade pushed Andre onto the ground and slowly began taking off her jacket.

"Things are about to get… very… exciting." she said, closing the tent.

* * *

Andre never knew that Jade would feel soooooo good.

Every time he went inside her, she made the cutest little squeak that just drove Andre insane.

Jade loved the fact that Andre's muscular arms were wrapped around her waist, caressing those insane curves of hers.

Each thrust felt so damn good to Jade that she wanted to scream.

Andre could see how Jade's pale skin was quickly turning bright red.

It drove him to keep going and going. Harder and harder. Faster and faster.

The more and more he kept going, the more and more she was closer to screaming.

"Oh! Fuck! Don't stop!" she yells, knowing how she's almost close to her peak, "Please don't stop!"

Andre gave it his all.

Going ever harder… much harder and faster… much faster than before.

He wanted to hear that scream.

And she was gonna give it to him.

"Come on! Come on!" he yelled, holding Jade in his arms and continuing to go at it.

Then it happened…

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! Fuuuuuuuuuucccck!" she screamed intensely, as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders.

The scream was so piercingly loud, Andre knew that the audience outside would know that there was something going on back here.

But then again... it was a horror film festival, so there would bound to be some screaming somewhere.

So he didn't care.

He was too busy with Jade.

He kept going at her.

It was far from over for him.

He could slowly feeling himself building up more and more until…

* * *

"Andre! Are you alright?"

Andre woke up.

I know… it sucks. All that intensity and it turned out to be a dream… again.

"Andre, can you hear me?" said Jade, snapping her fingers in his face.

"Yeah, sorry, I kinda blanked out." Andre said, moving off of the vendor stand.

Jade sighed and continued with what she was saying, "Look, yes, it's true. I do have a small crush on you. But remember, I'm still with Beck and that's how it gonna be."

Andre felt both relived and saddened that Jade said this.

"At least the truth is out for the both of us. Now I can start to act normal again and actually get some sleep at night." Andre said jokingly.

"Sorry that I kinda… in a way… put you through all of that torture. I mean, I like torturing people, but I didn't mean to torture you unintentionally." Jade laughed, "And for what it's worth, if Beck and me weren't together… I would definitely going out with you."

A smile appeared on both Andre and Jade's face.

"I must say this: If we were together, I would have definitely drove you outta your mind." said Jade, laughing.

"Oh, really?" Andre joked.

"Really." Jade said, with a intense, yet sexy gaze

"So… you wanna go get some good seats to watch the movies?"

"Sure… why not?" said Jade, "Hopefully you won't run off screaming in terror."

"I don't know about that." said Andre, "I can handle a simple horror movie."

* * *

Wait a damn minute.

Things were ending too happy-go-lucky.

Andre just had an intense dream about Jade.

And he didn't even consider Beck's feelings.

So if Jade really did try to seduce him, would he have really had sex with her?

Let's hear from him.

* * *

_It was just a dream, I have no control of myself in a dream. If she really would have tried to seduce me, I would have done the right thing." he thought, "I may have been lovesick about Jade, but I'm not crazy enough to ruin my friendship with Beck._

Well… I guess that answers that…

* * *

Both Andre and Jade watched the horror films and enjoyed the rest of the night.

After walking Jade back to her house, Jade had one final thing to say.

"I had fun tonight, even after all of the secrets that came out."

"I know… at least it all over now. I can now focus on other girls now. Especially Northridge girls."

"Yeah, well… you know, you're too good to be chasing after silly girls out there. You're more… Tori's type."

"Tori? Really?"

"Yeah… Even thought she can be soooooo annoying at time and is a real goodie-goodie, she can be alright at times." Jade said, swallowing hard, "Plus she'll be sorta alright for you.

"Hmm, glad that you care about me so much."

"Yeah, I do."

Jade then walked up to Andre and hugged him.

But before she let him go, she gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek.

"Uh, Jade…?"

Jade quickly pulled away and opened up her front door.

"Even though we know the truth about each other, don't be expecting that I'll take things easier on you. Got it?"

"Yeah… sure."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

* * *

After Jade shut her door, Andre began walking down the sidewalk.

_At least it's all over. My feelings have been heard. I'm not going crazy. And something could possibly happen with Jade and me sometime in the future… if her and Beck ever broke up._

It was a very great night for Andre.

But then he remembered something…

"Tori! I need to call her later tonight." he said, running towards home.

* * *

Halfway home, Andre bumped into Cat.

"Sorry, Cat, I was rushing home."

"It's okay, guess what?"

"What?"

"My toothpaste cupcakes were a huge success, if I make anymore money, I can finally achieve one of my dreams: To ride in a giant cupcake."

"Good for you…"

"So how did it go with Jade." said Cat, giggling.

"Oh, you know… same old, same old."

"Oh, okay. Talk to you later!" said Cat, winking repeatedly and walking backwards towards her house.

"Bye, Cat. You might wanna turn around before you hit that-"

But it was too late, she fell over the lawn gnome in her yard.

"I'm okay!"

"Good night, Cat!"

"Goodnight! Oh! It's cozy down here."

* * *

Back at Jade's house, she had just got out of a conversation with Beck about listening to Andre's new song.

She had no idea what he was talking about, but played along with it anyway.

But that wasn't on her mind right now.

Andre was.

_Maybe… just maybe… No! I can't! I have to keep these feelings to myself. That's why it's best that I make him focus on Tori right now. It'll make things easier on the both of us… I hope._

In Jade's mind, she thought about the possibility of one day, her and Andre getting together.

She only had one thing to say about this…

_It wouldn't be that bad… in fact, not bad at all._


	5. Three Missed Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spilling his heart out to Jade, Andre feels relieved to be on good terms with the snarky goth. Now turning his attention towards Tori, Andre will eventually find himself in an even bigger predicament.

**Chapter Five: Three Missed Calls**

It was the beginning of the Christmas season.

Christmas cheer was in the air.

Shoppers were maxing out their credit cards.

Carolers were singing repetitive songs.

And Andre Harris was in his Creative Music class.

Where he'd just found out that he had to write catchy Christmas song for a grade.

* * *

But was this the most important thing on his mind?

Not at all.

As a matter of fact, Andre had two things on his mind.

Jade West

And

Tori Vega

These two have been up to a lot of things during the past couple of weeks.

But you'll find out more about that later...

* * *

Ever since Jade told Andre that Tori seemed more like his type of girl, his mind seemed to wander on whether or not something could happen between the two.

For as long as he had known it, he had always considered Tori as a friend.

Well… a really cute friend with the most adorable cheekbones.

But there was something even more attracting about her.

She was a brunette.

She had a **very** nice shape (for a very slim girl).

She was really friendly.

Extremely pretty.

Intelligent.

So why the hell didn't he ever try to make a move?

Once again, he only saw her as a friend… until now.

And he always felt that it was obvious that she thought of him as only a friend as well.

He was wrong unfortunately, and found this out several weeks ago when he called Tori late one night.

* * *

After spending the evening watching a horror movie marathon with Jade, Andre finally made it back home.

To his dismay, he found himself locked out of the house.

His grandma just had to pick this weekend to stay at the house.

_Great, just great._

"Grandma! Open up the door! It's me, Andre!"

"That's a lie! Andre been in his room all day!"

"Grandma, I've been gone ever since 6. Now can you please open up the door?"

"No! That raccoon been out there all day long. He just waiting to come in here!"

"Raccoon? What raccoon?"

"The one that's been standing by the garage!"

Looking towards the garage, Andre saw no raccoon, but rather a soccer ball instead.

A soccer ball.

This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Andre picked up the soccer ball and hid it in the bushes, so that his grandma wouldn't be able to see it anymore.

"The raccoon is gone now!"

He could then see his grandma looking out of the window at the garage and then unlocking all of the deadbolts on the door.

"Thank you." said Andre, as he headed towards his room.

* * *

He had an important call to make.

After calling Tori three times and being sent to voicemail, Andre decided to give up and just laid there in his bed.

It was strange.

For as long as he had known Tori, she has always answered his calls.

It was almost as if she was waiting by the phone for him to call or something.

But now, she didn't answer at all.

"She busy, that's all." said Andre, unsure of the situation.

I mean after all, this is the girl that answered his texts around 3 in the morning.

* * *

Andre laid there and began thinking of what Jade told him earlier.

_Am I actually over Jade? What if it turns out that Tori and I are only "friends"?_

These questions riddled Andre.

That son of a bitch.

He resolved one problem and created two more.

He wondered if whether both Tori and him could be more than friends.

And

He wondered if he was really over Jade.

Andre was having one hell of a night.

And it was about to get even stranger.

* * *

Tori was laying in her bed.

Her eyes were focused on the cell phone that she held over her head.

**Three Missed Calls**

She knew who it was that had called, but she was afraid of what they would say.

All she could picture was Andre and Jade making out in his room.

It made her sick.

But she knew that if she didn't find out what he had to tell her now, she'll never be able to live it down.

She sped dialed his number.

Within three seconds, he answered.

* * *

"Tori!"

"Yes, what is it?" said Tori, using on her best sleepy voice.

"I told her."

"You what?"

"I told Jade how I felt."

"…..And what did she say?"

"She said she had a tiny crush on me too."

Tori's heart sank. She had lost him.

"Oh…"

"But she's still gonna be with Beck. No cheating at all."

At hearing this, Tori felt slightly better. But still cautious of what she was hearing.

She could trust that Andre wouldn't cheat with Jade…

But Jade….

Tori didn't trust her at all.

* * *

Andre continued the conversation by telling Tori all of what happened that day, excluding the "steamy" daydream and the kiss from Jade.

He didn't necessarily know how Tori would react to that.

I mean, could you blame him?

"But at the end… Jade made me think of something."

"Really? What?"

"Tori… have you… every consider the fact of us…"

* * *

Tori couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Andre Harris was about to ask her about the possibility of them dating.

In her mind, she felt the need to just scream "Yes!"

But then something hit her, _Jade made Andre consider the fact of us being together. For as long as I've known him, he has never made a move on his own… And now because Jade tells him to, he now wants to ask me out?!_

Tori never thought she would feel like this.

Both delighted and disgusted by what Andre was saying.

But the guy whom she was head over heels for was about ask her out.

She couldn't say no.

And yet the thought of Jade just wouldn't leave her alone.

She felt as if this was Jade's greatest scheme ever.

Tori only knew one thing: She didn't want Andre to go out with her because Jade told him to.

She wanted him to ask her out because **he** wanted to.

* * *

"…going out together?" asked Andre.

"Yes."

"Well, I was wondering if… maybe sometime next week, we maybe could go out on a real date."

….

"So….. Do you wanna go out…. With me?"

The silence was deafening, it was only broken by Tori's tearful voice.

"No… I can't."


	6. All To Myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contemplating about recent events, Jade soon finds herself quite disturbed by some pleasant thoughts.

** Chapter Six: All To Myself **

Neither one of them could believe what had happened.

Andre thought that Tori didn't really understand what he was asking her.

"Uh, I asked if you wanted to go out next week on a real date."

"I heard you… but I can't go out with you next week."

Andre felt awkward; Tori had just said that she could possibly see the two of them being together and yet she doesn't want to go out with him?

"Is something wrong?" he asked, deeply concerned.

* * *

How could she do this?

She loved him.

She knew this.

But she didn't want to be with Andre…

Unless **he** wanted to be with her, not because Jade suggested it.

She wanted to be with Andre on terms where Jade is nothing but a friend to him.

And right now, she knew that Jade was still on Andre's mind.

He just didn't have the nerve to tell her.

* * *

"No… nothing's wrong. It's just that… I'm seeing someone." she blurted.

"Oh… okay… good for you…" said Andre, slowly, "He's a… lucky guy."

"Yeah… he is…" said Tori, trying to hold back her tears, "Look, I've got to get up early, so I'll talk to you later. Okay, bye."

She quickly hung up the phone, leaving Andre to only wonder about what had happened.

* * *

He laid there thinking. Just thinking.

_What the hell had just happened?_

He wasn't surprised by the fact that Tori was already dating someone.

He was surprised by how quickly his mind stopped focusing on Jade.

For the past three days, his mind had been thinking about Jade nonstop. But for those five minutes that he was on the phone with Tori…

It all vanished.

Andre didn't know whether or not he was really in love with Jade or… if he was starting to develop feelings for Tori.

But wait… he just started thinking about Tori because of Jade's advice where she said that Tori and him would look great as a couple.

So who's not to say that Andre was acting on his feelings for Jade, by listening to her?

And who's not to say that maybe he was trying to make himself like Tori more than a friend, just so he can forget about Jade?

Things just went from messed up to fucked up for the life of Andre Harris.

* * *

It was 3 a.m.

Jade West was quickly drifting to sleep. Her was PearPod playing _365 Days_ on loop. She'd never quite enjoyed listening to a song like this before.

After all, she had recently found out that the song was really about her…

But in a good way, not one of those "You broke my heart, so I'm gonna embarrass you with this song" song.

_** …Tuesday, I wrote you this song. Wednesday, I wait outside your door. Even though I know it's wrong… **_

Jade felt different that night. Usually if a guy, who wasn't her boyfriend, wrote her a song, she'd glue their fingers together and tie them to a flagpole with a sign that read "Worst Songwriter Ever."

* * *

She has actually done this. I'm not even kidding.

* * *

But with Andre, that wasn't the cast. Ever since he admitted his feelings for Jade earlier that night, she had been thinking about him more than usual.

Of course, she did know that she already had a great, loving boyfriend, but…

She just couldn't stop thinking about Andre.

_** …I want you all to myself. (All to myself)… **_

She slowly began to go to sleep. The song still playing on loop.

Her mind still on Andre…

* * *

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Somebody was pounding on the door.

"Whaaaaat?!" Jade said, aggravated to be awoken.

"Jade, you have a visitor!" said Jade's mom, who continued to bang on the door.

"If it's Tori, tell her to leave. If it's Robbie, call the police. If it's Cat…"

"No, it's Andre."

Jade quickly jumped out of the bed and ran to the mirror.

Her hair was completely tangled.

Her black and blue colored nightwear had tears in them from overuse.

And she had a bit of drool on her lip which she quickly wiped away.

"Ah, I look great." she said to herself, as she turned off her PearPod and went to open the door.

Jade's mom and Andre stood there, both with a look of surprise by how she looked.

"Hi, Jade… you look… wonderful." said Andre, who was trying to find the right words.

"Jade, I seriously need to get rid of all of those torn up clothes that you love to keep." said her mom, looking upset at what she was wearing, "You'll so pretty in a nice pink or yellow."

"Do you seriously want me to hurl?" asked Jade, as she leaned against the door frame.

"Why do I even try?" said her mom, as she walked down the stairs leaving Andre and Jade by themselves, "I'm going to work, so remember to lock up when I leave."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." said Jade, without much care.

"And don't forget that your brother is next door!" her mother yelled from the kitchen.

"Alright, already! God."

The sound of the back door slamming could be heard and then it was quiet.

Jade then motioned to Andre to come into her room.

* * *

"So… what did you come here for?" she asked.

"Uh… I came here to… tell you thanks for helping me with my song." Andre said hesitantly, sitting in the nearest chair.

Jade knew he was lying. Why would he come over to the house, at 10 in the morning, just to tell her thanks?

There was something else he wasn't telling her.

"Stop that." she said.

"Stop what?"

"Lying about why you're really here."

"You could easily tell, couldn't you?"

"You're not a good liar and you're not good at hiding your feelings. So, yeah, I could easily tell." she said, with a smile.

Andre stood up and began pacing around the room.

Jade realized that this must have been something really serious or else he would have told her already.

"Andre sit down, okay." she said, grabbing Andre's arm and making him sit on the bed, "Now… tell me what you have to tell me."

Andre took a deep breath and looked deep in Jade's eyes.

"Jade… you know that I like you… a lot, and I know that you think that Tori and me are perfect together, but… I can't picture myself with anyone else." he said, as he held Jade's hand.

Jade just sat there, unprepared for what she was about to hear.

She didn't know what was going on and at the same time, she didn't care.

The girl was at ease. A soothing feeling overtaking her. She questioned nothing, rather await for the moment to reveal itself.

"Jade… I don't care about Tori and I don't care about Beck," said Andre, becoming more at ease, "I want you… all to myself. No one else, just me and you."

Jade didn't know what was going through her mind. It was as if a spark was ignited and she had no control over the flames that were growing.

Jade quickly leapt towards Andre and began kissing him. Did she care that what she was doing was wrong? Absolutely not.

Did he care that what he was doing was immoral. Nope, not at all.

The two continued kissing one other, grabbing each other's hair, touching one another. They didn't want this to end.

Jade then got up from the bed and locked her room door.

"Mom's going to work and my brother's at his friend's house." she said, as she jumped back on the bed and on top of Andre, "Ready to keep this going?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Andre said, as the two of them began kissing again.

* * *

Slowly the two began taking off each other's clothes.

The excitement between them was insane.

They knew they were wrong. They knew it.

Yet they still kept going.

While Jade was laying on top of Andre and kissing him on the neck, Andre said to her, "Let me go first."

He quickly flipped Jade on her back and began kissing her. Slowly he moved down her body and kissed ever inch of it.

It drove her insane, he was so good at teasing her.

_Much better than Beck_

It got even more exciting once Andre went inside of her, the penetrating feeling sent chills down her spine.

She gripped her pillow tightly, as she let out a sexy moan and threw her head back.

* * *

"…Andre…" she said, as she sat up… only to realize that she had been dreaming.

"What the hell?" she said, as she noticed that she was breathing hard and sweating a lot.

She was **sweating** …

 **Sweating** …

Because of a dream she had about Andre.

"This can't be happening. No, this cannot be happening!" she said, as she got up and turned off the PearPod.

She stood there looking at the silent PearPod. The song still playing in her head.

** _I want you all to myself. **_

She couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuck!" she yelled, as she threw her PearPod at the wall, "Great, now I have to get a new one."

* * *

Jade was afraid.

Her once tiny feelings for Andre, have now exploded into something uncontrollable.

As she laid down on the floor and cried softly, she knew things were now more complicated than ever.

**_Here lies a girl, afraid of her feelings. Unable to decide, where her heart truly_ **


	7. Remember That Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calming herself from the dream she had, Jade looks for ways to distract her from the subject at hand: Andre.

** Chapter Seven: Remember That Day **

She laid there.

What could she obviously do?

Everything was confusing now.

She never thought that it would escalate to this.

The girl was losing her way.

* * *

It had just turn 5 a.m.

Jade West had just experience something she considered horrifying.

She just had a very **passionate** dream about Andre Harris.

Something that has never happened before…

But that wasn't what was troubling her. What was scaring her was the fact that she enjoyed the dream… even to the point where she moaned Andre's name as she woke up.

How could she ever look at Andre the same way after she had this dream?

How could she look at Beck the same way after this?

* * *

"You're in love with Beck, not Andre." whispered Jade, as she got off the floor, "Andre's just a friend. Only a friend."

Jade had to find something to get these thoughts out of her head. Something. Anything. Just to get keep her mind off of… _him._

As Jade went through her movie collection, she came across one of favorites: _My Sweet Sixteenth Massacre._

After watching the first fifteen minutes of the movie, Jade began to find herself quite relaxed.

 _So far, so good._ she thought, as the gym teacher in the movie was killed and left hanging from the basketball court's basket.

As time went by, Jade began to get sleepy, yet she quickly decided that she needed to stay awake.

"I need some coffee." she said, making her way to the kitchen.

A cup of coffee was one of the greatest things to ever exist on this planet. She didn't know why she loved it, but she loved it.

As she waited for the coffee to be done, a thought popped into her mind.

 _Why am I now, starting to like Andre… more than a friend?_ Jade thought, leaning against the counter.

Andre was only a good friend, whom rarely annoyed her.

Yes, it was true that Jade did have a _small_ crush on Andre, but that was it.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But where did it all started?

* * *

Once the coffee was done, Jade went back to her room, where she saw that someone had text her while she was gone.

It was Beck.

_{Leaving early this morning, to go to Vancouver with the family. Cousin's birthday. Won't be back till Tuesday night. Love You.}_

_Must have been in a rush to not call._

But something else came to her mind from the text.

_Beck's 14th birthday party._

She remember that day all too well…

It was the first time she had met Andre Harris.

* * *

It was a Friday afternoon. Sunny, with a gentle breeze every now and then.

Jade West was on her way to her boyfriend, Beck Oliver's house.

The two have been together for about a month and today was his 14th birthday.

Jade hated birthday parties, especially going to one. But for her new boyfriend she made an exception.

Another reason why she was willing to go was because of all the girls who would be flirting with Beck at his party.

Beck was very easy on the eyes and Jade knew that most girls wouldn't take into consideration that "He has a girlfriend" meant "He's off limits."

But she couldn't worry about that right now, she had to focus on trying to remember how to get to his house.

 _Was it make a right at the gas station, then go three blocks? Or was it, go straight pass the gas station, then go three blocks?_ she thought, confused on where she was going.

"I'll just call him." said Jade, as she dialed Beck's number on her Pear Phone.

After waiting for a minute and receiving no answer, Jade hung up and decided to just go straight pass the gas station.

It didn't take long for her to see that she chose the right way. She began to see other kids with presents going down the street.

Eventually the group grew to the size of a large crowd; Jade knew that Beck was popular, but she didn't now he was _this_ popular.

* * *

Jade and the others finally reached Beck's house after three minutes of walking.

But before Jade got the chance to even walk through the front door, a guy with dreads rushed into her and caused her to fall.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." said the guy, "Are you alright?"

Jade, picking herself up from the ground, thought that the guy was being sarcastic.

"Jerk! Watch where the hell you're going!" she said, as she shoved the guy into the bushes.

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" asked the guy, "I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I care." responded Jade, walking into the house.

* * *

There were so many people at this party, a majority of them Jade didn't even know.

After awhile, Jade began to think that she would never be able to find her boyfriend.

"Jade! Over here!" yelled Beck, who was outside by the pool.

 _Thank goodness, I finally found him._ she thought, making her way through the crowd.

Beck was talking with some friends, when Jade walked up.

"Glad that you made it." he said, as he hugged and kissed her, "Jade, these are my two friends, Mark and Brian."

The two guys named Mark and Brian just stood there and stared at Jade. Probably thinking that she was the most weirdest looking girl that they've ever seen.

"I thought you said you have a girlfriend, not a… whatever that is." said Mark, laughing.

"Yeah, I didn't know you lowered your standards and chose to go out with the Blair Witch over here." laughed Brian.

"Hey, that's enough. I don't ever crack any jokes about any of your girls." said Beck, getting defensive.

"That's because none of our girlfriends are freaky looking." said Mark, as Brian and him continued to laugh.

"It's alright, Beck. I'm pretty sure that the stray dogs and cats that date these two are ten times prettier than I am." Jade said sarcastically. "Speaking of which, aren't the two of you late for your dates at the animal shelter?"

Both Mark and Brian began to get angry. They both looked as if they were coming up with a quick remark, but the two then decided to just leave.

"Bitch!" muttered Brian, as they left.

"Don't listen to those jerks. Any real friend of mine would see that you're beautiful, no matter what." said Beck, as he once again kissed Jade.

At that moment, Beck's dad walked up to the two of them.

"Hello... Jade. Uh, Beck, your grandparents are on the phone." he said, as he looked uncomfortably at Jade.

It was probably because the last time that Jade was at their house, their dinner was ruined by Jade's constant talk of blood and gore and their friendly game of _Life_ was turned into a discussion about how life always ends in death and how they might as well get use to the idea.

"Oh, okay. Jade, I'll be right back." said Beck, as he left to go back in the house.

* * *

While Jade walked around the area, she noticed that both Mark and Brian were following her.

"What the hell do you two want?" she asked, turning around to face them.

"Oh, not much." said Brian.

"Just one question. Can you swim?" asked Mark.

"Of course I can… I just don't like being in the water is all." said Jade, turning around to leave.

Without warning, Mark and Brian ran up behind Jade, picked her up and threw her into the pool.

The rest of the party crowd suddenly riled up in laughter, not one of the partygoers even try to help Jade get out of the pool.

She hated being in that pool. She didn't like that feeling of being wet while fully clothe. She just felt… like a mess.

 _Ugh, those… bastards!_ she thought, as she swam to get out of the pool.

Even though Jade had a tough exterior, deep down inside she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

 _I knew I shouldn't have come to this party._ she though, as she tried to get out of the pool, _It was a big, **big** mistake._

"No, no, no. You're gonna stay right there and swim for us." said Mark, trying to step on Jade's fingers.

"That's right, bitch! You're gonna…" started Brian, as someone pushed them into the pool.

_Oh, it's Beck._

But it wasn't Beck. Beck was still in the house on the phone.

This guy was nothing like Beck.

This guy had dreads.

"You!" yelled Jade.

"Yeah... it's me." said the guy, with a smile.


	8. Lovely Once You Get To Know Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding themselves reminiscing about the day they first met, Andre and Jade both come to a huge realization.

**Chapter Eight: Lovely Once You Get To Know Her**

"I don't need your help." muttered Jade, pulling herself out of the pool.

The guy with dreads simply smiled and said, "Sure, I could tell from how you ended up in the pool that things were going your way."

"Stop being such a smart ass." snapped Jade, frustrated at how things were going, "Get out of the way, I need to go dry off."

At saying that, she rushed past the guy and made her way back into the house.

* * *

Even though she was soaking wet, Jade still didn't want anyone to see her tearing up.

As she ran into the bathroom, she quickly locked the door and slowly began to cry.

What exactly was going on with Jade?

She was the girl that didn't take "No" for an answer.

The girl that no one wanted to piss off.

The girl with the tough exterior…

Exterior…

Outside…

To the naked eye, that's all that could be seen.

A girl that didn't let anything trouble her.

But the girl on the inside, now that was a different story.

After calming herself down, Jade took off her clothes, wrung them dry and hung them from the shower curtain rack.

Luckily, she found a bathrobe to wear while her clothes dried.

 _This is ridiculous!_ _There's no way I can go back out there… Not after that._

* * *

She slowly began to cry when suddenly…

_**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!** _

Jade seriously wasn't in the mood to be bothered.

"Fuck off!" she yelled, hoping that the person would walk away.

But they weren't going to.

**_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_ **

Sighing heavily, Jade ripped opened the door.

"Do you not know the meaning of "fuck off…"?

But something stopped her.

The presence of the guy with dreads bothered Jade.

She didn't know whether she was bother because he was the one knocking on the door.

Or because she was kind of hoping that he would show up.

 **No!** Not in that way that you are thinking of right now!

(Girl completely naked under bathrobe + Already in a relationship) + (Teenage boy with raging hormones + Is a complete stranger) = **NOT GOOD!**

Let's see exactly where this is going.

* * *

"Look, before you yell at me; I just have to say that I'm sorry." said the guy with dreads, in a serious tone, "I just saw a _pretty_ girl who was minding her own business and being bothered by two jerks. I felt the need to help, regardless of how she felt of me."

This was completely unexpected.

Jade didn't see this coming.

You see, during the time that Jade was crying, she was also reminded about how while everyone else was laughing at her when she was thrown into the pool; this guy was the only one who was willing to help her.

"Um… Look… you don't have to apologize." said Jade, swallowing her pride, "I shouldn't have lashed out at you… I was angry and…"

"I get it. You rather defend yourself, rather than let someone else protect you." said the guy with dreads, with a sense of understanding that astonished Jade, "I embarrassed you even more, didn't I?"

"A little. But I still shouldn't have said all of that to you. You were trying to help me. Took me a while to appreciate it."

This made the guy with dreads smile.

"For what it's worth, even if I knew that I would embarrass you... I would have still helped you."

"Why?"

The guy smiled again. With a slight blush on his face. Quickly, he turned away and said, "Oh, never mind."

Jade could tell that he was lying.

The constant smiling. The slight blushing. Calling her a "pretty girl". Ignoring explaining his other reason for helping her.

It could only mean one thing.

"Look… I'm flattered, but I have a…"

"Boyfriend. I already know."

"You already know?"

"Yeah… he's actually my best friend."

The guy with dreads began to look guilty.

But it quickly disappeared.

"That's the other reason why I helped you." he continued, "I knew that you were Beck's girlfriend."

Well, that explains a lot. Doesn't it? There can't possibly be any other reason for him to help her. Isn't there?

"Oh…" said Jade, trying to move the conversation along, "You never told me your name."

"Sorry bout that. The name's Andre Harris." replied the guy with dreads, holding out his hand.

"Jade West… and I don't know why I said that, you already know my name" said Jade, as she shook Andre's hand and smiled.

It was odd. It was but five minutes ago that this girl was crying and now look at her! She was calm and smiling...

And it was all thanks to this guy's help. But something kept nipping at Jade.

Even though Andre explained his reasons for what he did; Jade still felt that there was something else.

A part of her wanted to find out, while the other wanted to leave things as they were.

In the end, she decided that there were more important things to worry about; like how she was going to dry her clothes.

"Uh... Andre, it was nice meeting you, but I have to find a way to dry my clothes. You know, those soaking wet ones?" said Jade, gesturing towards the clothes on the rack.

"Why don't you take those to the dryer?" asked Andre, "It's on the other side of the house, so no one will see you in a bathrobe."

"Thanks." said Jade, as she gathered up her still damped clothes and followed Andre.

* * *

As they both walked through the empty side of the house, Jade thought of how things were going.

She found it strange that at one point things were going horrible and almost immediately when this guy arrives, things get better.

Kinda like her own knight in shining armor.

_A really cute knight with dreads._

This thought made Jade laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Andre, as he opened up the door to the laundry room.

"Nothing… uh, are you sure that it's okay for me to use their dryer?" asked Jade.

"Sure, trust me."

Trust…

One word that Jade West had trouble with.

Yet here she was… trusting a stranger… well, he was her boyfriend's best friend, but a stranger nonetheless.

But that wasn't what was out of the ordinary.

* * *

For the next 15 minutes, Jade and Andre spent the time talking, just talking.

Lost deep in their conversation and forgetting their reason for being there, the two were enjoying themselves more than if they were with the rest of the party-goers.

"That's sick! That's really sick!" laughed Andre, reacting to Jade's story of the paperboy that made the mistake of trying to flirt with her.

"I tried to warn him. It's not like I meant to do it on purpose… okay, maybe I did." said Jade, seriously enjoying herself.

She then noticed that the dryer had stopped.

"Finally." Jade said, taking her now warm and dry clothes out of the dryer.

"I should leave you to… you know… get yourself together." said Andre, as he began to leave Jade to put on her clothes.

But something stopped him.

"Wait!"

Andre turned around to see Jade walking towards him.

She seemed hesitant. Almost as if she was trying to calm herself.

"Thank you, for everything." said Jade, holding out her hand.

"No problem." Andre replied, shaking her hand.

After letting go, Jade said "I guess I'll be seeing you later."

"Yeah… I guess so."

* * *

After Jade closed the laundry room door, Andre went back to the party.

Not really paying attention to anything around him, he bumped into Beck.

"Hey! Watch where yo-. Oh, hey, nice to see that you made it!" said Beck, who was surrounded by three dim-looking girls.

"You know I wouldn't miss your birthday." laughed Andre, as the two hugged, "Who are they?"

"Oh, this is Becca, Lucy, and Tia." answered Beck, as he gestured towards the redhead, the blonde, and the brunette, "Becca came all the way from St. Louis, while Lucy and Tia came from Atlanta and Pittsburgh."

"Wow, I didn't know you knew people that far out." Andre said, astonished.

"I don't. They somehow found out about this party." said Beck, "But anyway, I've been meaning to introduce you to Jade."

"Oh, I've already met her." said Andre, trying to exclude most of what happened, "She's very edgy… but also really lovely."

* * *

For the rest of the party, Andre couldn't focus on anyone else but Jade.

She was unique, not like any of the boring girls that he had encountered before.

If it wasn't for the fact that his best friend was already dating her, he would have _definitely_ asked her out.

* * *

After that party, Andre continued to have feelings for Jade... but as the years went by, he slowly repressed these thoughts and memories until... until that night in the recording studio.

That one eventful night where that _side_ of Jade returned.

That cute, gentle, alluring side that she rarely showed anyone else.

He missed that about Jade.

But she had such a knack for hiding that aspect of her.

Almost as if she was a shame of it.

But the point of the matter was that Andre was frustrated that Jade was taken.

The _perfect_ girl, in his opinion, was with someone else.

But that's usually how these situations go.

* * *

"The good ones are always taken." sighed Andre, as he laid in his bed.

It was 5:23 a.m.

Three days had pass since his confession to Jade.

And Andre had just woken up from dreaming about when he first met Jade.

 _This is Hell._ he thought, as his mind was still torn between Tori and Jade.

Reaching for his phone, he saw that both of them had left him a message.

He placed the phone back on his desk and stared at the ceiling. Unable to check the messages.


	9. What If That Day Never Comes?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting up once again, Andre and Jade come to an emotional conclusion about where their relationship lies. The only issue is whether or not both will be satisfied with their decision.

** Chapter Nine: What If That Day Never Comes? **

It was 2:23 in the afternoon.

Andre Harris woke up groggily to the sunlight that was seeping through the window.

"Didn't mean to sleep for that long." he thought, as he got up out of bed.

Looking at his cell, he saw that both Tori and Jade left him two more messages.

He sighed.

Not knowing what to do with the situation.

* * *

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Andre decided that it was time to listen to the messages.

"Might as well listen to Tori's messages first." he said, scrolling through his phone.

_{You have 6 messages: First message…}_

_{Umm… Look… when you get the chance… call me okay? Bye.}_

_{Next message…}_

_{Okay… there's something serious that I need to get off my chest. Only I don't know whether I should tell you over the phone… Mom, what is it?! Okay, I'm coming… I'll call you back. Bye.}_

"What is it that she needs to tell me?" thought Andre, "She already told me that she's seeing another guy. What more is there to say?"

_{Next message…}_

_{Meet me at the park near the library at 3:15... *sighs* bye.}_

It was 2:45. He had time to get there.

"Time to listen to what Jade had to say."

_{Next message…}_

_{…...}_

It was strange, Jade was saying absolutely nothing and then hanging up.

_{Next message…}_

_{…...}_

"Was she going to say anything at all?" Andre thought, moving on the final message.

_{Next message…}_

_{*sighs* Just meet me at the park at 3. Don't be late.}_

* * *

Looking at the time, Andre quickly dashed out of house.

"Dammit, it's 2:55!"

Andre ran as fast as he could, jumping over multiple obstacles and avoiding cars.

"Almost there… almost there…"

* * *

As he entered the park, he stopped to catch his breath and gazed around for Jade.

Looking around for sometime, he finally spotted the dark haired girl leaning against a tree.

"Bout time you got here." said Jade, as she saw Andre walking her way, "You know I don't like to be kept waiting."

"So… what is it that you need to tell me?" asked Andre.

Jade for the first time was at a complete loss for words.

Whenever she would begin to say something, she quickly stopped herself.

It was almost as if a bit of role reversal happened between Jade and Andre.

So Andre decided to say something.

"Look… whatever it is that you have to tell me… it won't change how I feel about you."

Jade gazed at Andre with surprise and then quickly with a look of frustration.

"Don't do that! Okay?! Just stop!" she said, walking away from him, "Stop being so nice to me!"

Hearing this confused Andre, he began to wonder exactly what was bothering Jade.

"Jade… is something wrong or what?" he asked, walking over to her.

As Andre placed his hand on Jade's shoulder, she quickly turned around, "I like you, okay?! I like you a lot."

Shocked by what he was hearing, Andre was completely silent.

"I remembered the day that we first met and all of a sudden these old feelings started to rush through my head." said Jade, looking worried, "Why did this have to happen? Why can't I get you off of my mind?"

Andre walked up to Jade and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Because we love each other, but we both know that it'll be wrong for anything to happen."

The look on Jade's face revealed that what Andre was saying was true.

She loved him.

He loved her.

There was no point in denying that.

"That day when we were in the dryer room just talking and laughing… I wanted to ask you out so, so badly… I just hated the thought that you were already taken." said Andre, feeling relieved that they were both getting things off their chest, "After awhile, it just became easier to suppress those feelings, until… until recently when the feelings came back."

"So what exactly do we do?" asked Jade, crying a bit, "I'm still with Beck. I-I-I can't just break up with him all of a sudden! Even thought I want to be with you."

Sighing heavily, a thought came to Andre's mind.

A thought that he hated, but knew was the right choice.

"Jade… I love you, so much… even though you're scary at times." said Andre, as Jade and him laughed, "Just like I wanted to be with you years ago, I want to be with you now."

"Same here." said Jade, looking down.

"But… I think for the time being; we strictly keep things at a friendship level."

A couple of tears ran down Jade's face.

"Even though you say you love me, a part of you still loves Beck." said Andre, "Even if you were to break up with him, you'll still love him. The relationship you two have had is simply too strong to break that easy."

Jade began wiping away the tears from her face.

"Maybe one day, we could be together; but as of now, I can't see that day coming any sooner."

"What if that day never comes? What then?"

"Then all I can wish is that Beck makes you very, very happy."

Andre felt a tear trying to escape from his eye, but he quickly wiped it away.

Seeing Andre almost cry, Jade hugged him.

"I would wish for you to meet a girl that's worthy of you, one that'll appreciate everything about you."

Both of them hated feeling like this.

Being so close to the one that they love and yet, so far from actually being with them.

It was a pain much worse than a heart attack.

"I have to go, I have somewhere else to be." said Jade, quickly walking away from Andre.

* * *

As she left, Andre could see that she started back crying again.

This had to have been one of the worst days, he has ever experienced.

He then remembered that he was also suppose to meet up with Tori.

Looking at his phone, he saw that it was already 3:45.

Leaving from the site of pure heartache, Andre looked for Tori.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Andre and Jade, Tori was within earshot of their conversation.

She had arrived at the park earlier and caught sight of Andre and Jade.

Curious at what the two were talking about, she followed them and eavesdropped.

After listening to what the two said, Tori sat quietly at a park bench.

Sad, yet quiet.

Completely unaware of what was going on around her.

Completely unaware of how Andre thought of her.

And completely unsure of what she was going to tell him when he sees her.


	10. We All Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having eavesdropped on the fervent conversation, Tori finds herself pulled into the turmoil between Andre and Jade.

**Chapter Ten: We All Fall Down**

"Tori, sorry I'm late."

Tori found herself in a state where the outside world didn't exist.

She had no clue that Andre was standing in front of her.

All that was on her mind was Andre and Jade's confession to each other.

It replayed over and over and over.

 _Why?_ Tori thought, _Why does he love her? Why can't he just forget about her?_

"Tori… are you alright?"

_They wanted to be with each other… for so long. How can I compete with that?_

"Tori!"

She woke up, startled at Andre's presence.

"Oh! Hey… I was deep in thought." she said, as Andre sat down next to her.

"So what was so important that we had to meet up?" he asked.

Tori knew that she couldn't go along with her original plans…

Which was to confess to Andre that she loved him, and that Jade would never love him as much as she did.

She had to think on her feet.

She had to come up with something… quick!

"Yeah… I wanted to tell you that you should be seriously careful with how you handle things with Jade."

Andre felt guilty hearing this, considering what had just happened between him and Jade.

"Wouldn't it be better if you looked for someone that wouldn't cause you to lose your best friend?" continued Tori, even though she knew truth, "You know, find a relationship where you don't have to sacrifice something in your life?"

"You're right… my friendship with Beck is much more important than a relationship with Jade." Andre said, "I've decided to just let the thought of her go. She's no good for me."

Andre had to swallow hard while saying this.

It felt… so wrong… so disturbing.

Tori felt relieved to hear him say this.

_Finally! Finally he sees reason! Maybe things could still go as planned._

_Maybe I could still tell him how I really feel about him._

"Hey, it's getting a little too gloomy around here." said Tori, standing up, "How about we go see a movie? My treat."

Andre really didn't feel like going to the movies.

He would have rather just go back home and drown in his sorrow.

Why bother trying to be happy?

Especially when you can't be with the girl that you really love.

"I'm not really in the mood." Andre said, looking down at his feet.

But Tori wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

Grabbing Andre's hand and dragging him to his feet, she said, "Well, you're not going to stay here and pout over Jade. We're going to see a movie and that's final."

He didn't feel like arguing with Tori, nor did he wanted to upset her.

Causing one girl to cry was enough for him.

* * *

As the two made there way to the nearest movie theater, Tori became hopeful of how things would go for that evening.

_Things are going to go great. We'll watch an action flick. It'll liven him up. I'll try to keep his thoughts away from Jade. And then when the time is right… I'll tell him._

"Two tickets for Plenty of Guns, Not enough Bullets." she said, as the cashier gave her the two tickets.

"I didn't know you wanted to go see that movie." said Andre, shocked by Tori's movie choice.

"Why? I thought you wanted to go see it? You've been talking about it for weeks."

"Yeah, I have been wanting to go see it, but I never saw you as the type to go see a movie like it."

"I like action movies… especially ones with lots of violence." lied Tori, as the two went to order their drinks and popcorn, "Sure, I was a little uneasy about them at first, but I've grown to love them.

No, Tori. You've grown to love Andre.

We all know it.

"I have to admit, I am starting to feel a bit better." said Andre, as they sat down while the previews began to play.

"Glad to hear that." said Tori, smiling.

Andre really was starting to feel better. He was looking forward to watching this movie and he was spending time with his best friend.

As the movie finally started, he could slowly feel the thoughts of Jade slip away.

_Nothing is going to get me down tonight. I'm just going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie._

* * *

She felt terrible.

Vulnerable.

Depressed.

Even with all of the steps that she had taken, she could not escape the memory of what had happened.

After much denial, she admitted that she loved another guy.

A guy who was her boyfriend's best friend.

She loved Beck. She honestly did love him.

But she loved Andre even more. And this made her sick.

As she continued to walk home, she became nauseous as she remembered what Andre had told her.

… _I think for the time being; we strictly keep things at a friendship level._

It killed her to hear him say that.

As a matter of fact, Jade wanted to kiss Andre back at the park, in order to make him change his mind.

But… she couldn't. She knew she couldn't do that.

She couldn't cheat on Beck or force Andre to betray their friendship.

Jade felt so lost and neither her mind nor her heart could guide her in the right direction.

* * *

Arriving at her house, Jade was surprised to see Beck standing at her door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, walking up to him.

"I came by to see if you were home, but nobody was home." said Beck, "Where have you been all day?"

"I-I was just at the park. Spent most of the day there, just drawing and-"

Jade slowly began to cry again.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Beck, as he held Jade, while she continued to cry, "What's been bothering you?"

The voice of Andre began ringing in her head.

… _strictly keep things at a friendship level…_

It conflicted her mind so much. She couldn't take it anymore.

… _strictly keep things at a friendship level…_

She snapped.

Lunging at Beck, Jade began kissing him passionately. Almost not giving him the chance to even breathe.

"I love you." she said, with tears in her eyes and a look of resentment on her face.

"Whoa! I love you, too." said Beck, finally able to catch his breath.

* * *

Making their way up to her room, the two continued to kiss each other with such fury.

Pushing Beck onto her bed, Jade began taking off her shirt and jumped onto of him.

Beck had no way of knowing exactly what was going on in Jade's mind.

And at that moment, he didn't really care.

"Never seen you this intense before." he said, as Jade took off her bra.

"Shut up." she said, "Take off your shirt."

Taking off his shirt, Beck began kissing Jade once again, as she started to take off his belt and pants.

She was angry, so very angry.

Confused.

Fragile.

Scared.

There were so many adjectives that could describe how Jade West was feeling.

That's how messed up she was now.

* * *

As she rode on top of Beck, she found the pleasure she was feeling to be both soothing and painful.

 _Strictly friendship. Strictly friendship._ she thought, as she moved faster and faster.

Beck began groaning with satisfaction as Jade rode him, harder and harder.

Jade could feel herself beginning to climax and began to firmly grip the sheets, nearly shredding them with her fingernails.

 _He want to be just friends? Good. Cause he seriously lucked out._ She thought, falling on top of Beck, as the two tried to catch their breath.

Her mind was so twisted... Poor Jade.

"That… that was crazy. Awesome, yet crazy." said Beck.

"Yeah… yeah, it was." said Jade, as she rolled off of him.

* * *

Within minutes, Beck had fallen asleep.

Jade, still wide awake, grabbed her phone and began flipping through her pictures.

It wasn't until she came across the picture of Andre and her, that she stopped to look at it.

The picture was of Andre and Jade, soaking wet from their last trip to the water park.

They looked very happy, which made Jade smile.

_Why couldn't things be like this? Why couldn't both of us be happy?_

But soon that smile disappeared and Jade became tearful again.

"Andre…" she said tearfully.

Holding the phone close to her heart, Jade turned over and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

The night was going pretty well for Andre Harris.

After watching what he considers to be "the best movie of the year," playing a game of mini putt, and eating pizza and ice cream; he was extremely exhausted.

Tori herself, enjoyed the evening as well.

Especially since Andre made not one mention of "You-Know-Who."

No, not Voldemort.

Jade.

But from Tori's point of view, they were both equal.

* * *

Once the night was over, Andre made sure that Tori made it home safe.

"Thanks for walking me home." said Tori, getting out her house keys,

"No problem. I wouldn't have felt right, if you were walking by yourself."

"Awww, such a gentlemen."

As the two laughed, Tori opened up the front door.

"Look, I wanted to tell you thanks for this evening." said Andre, "I've had a lot of fun."

"So did I. We should do this again sometimes."

"Yeah."

Tori didn't know what came over her, but what was about to happen... she had no control over it.

Out of nowhere, she kissed Andre, who immediately pulled away.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" said Tori, not entirely shocked by Andre's reaction.

Andre was surprised at first by Tori's kiss, but slowly looked saddened by it.

"Tori… I'm flattered but… I don't like you that way." said Andre, backing away from Tori, "I seriously wish that you didn't do that."

* * *

As Andre walked away, Tori rushed into the house and ran upstairs.

Leaning against the wall in the hallway, she began to cry.

_Why? Why did I do that?! Dammit… I'm such an idiot!_

Even though she knew that Andre's heart was with Jade, she sadly could not contain her emotions.

Poor Tori…

* * *

Further down the street, Andre was seriously pissed off.

_I finally decide that Jade and I should be just friends and then, Tori kisses me out of nowhere?!_

_And doesn't Tori already have a boyfriend?_

_This is so fucking stupid!_

Andre was so upset that he kicked over a garbage can.

_Why is all of this happening now?! Jade and Tori. Tori and Jade._

_Never thought I would be in this situation. The girl that I truly love can't be with me and the girl that just kiss me… she's taken as well._

_I mean, exactly what is going on and what exactly am I going to do?_

All Andre could do was sit on the sidewalk and stare at the passing traffic.

He was at a loss. As was Tori and Jade as well.

Poor, poor, poor Andre...

* * *

So to sum up this entire situation:

Jade was home, crying herself to sleep because she could only be friends with Andre.

She may want to get with Andre, but she needs to remember that she's still in a relationship with a guy… that she still loves.

Tori was home as well, crying in her hallway, simply because Andre didn't return her affection.

Which she obviously should have known considering what she had heard him tell Jade back in the park.

And Andre was sitting on the sidewalk, upset that both Tori and Jade wanted to be with him… yet both of them were already with someone.

It sucks that Andre doesn't know that Tori really isn't in a relationship. Maybe if Tori didn't lie to him, some of this wouldn't have happened.

All three of them were in their own personal Hell… only time will tell if each one of them would find happiness.


	11. Not A Christmas Party Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a month of silence and tension have passed, Andre slowly begins to rebuild his friendship with Tori. Unbeknownst to him, his relationship with Jade is about to become even more bothersome.

**Chapter Eleven: Not A Christmas Party Without You**

More than a month had passed…

It was now early December.

And the three found themselves staying as far from each other as possible.

Jade clung to Beck.

Tori hung out with Cat.

And Andre…

Well, he pretty much stayed to himself.

Funny how mixed feelings can break up close friends.

Funny how you can get yourself out of one situation and find yourself in an even bigger one.

* * *

Whenever Andre was near Jade, she would immediately look away from him or if Beck was with her, she would immediately start flirting with him.

Sure, it was cruel, but Andre felt as if he had deserved it.

_That's what I get for letting my feelings go wild._

And whenever Tori was nearby, she would either act as if she was really busy or just glance at Andre for a bit and then look away.

He felt like he deserved that, too.

_Sending out mixed signal is what got me to this point._

And day by day it felt as if he had reached the point of no return.

Especially considering that he was reaching the deadline for his Creative Writing project.

_A Christmas song… yippee…_

Normally, Andre would be glad to write a Christmas song. He absolutely loved the holiday season and the Christmas-y feeling that came with it.

But considering how "great" things have been going lately, he just wasn't in the mood.

He had yet to come up with an idea of what his Christmas song was going to be about.

_Why can't I focus? Why can't I come up with anything catchy?_

He found it so difficult to focus on his song, while also being distracted by his wandering thoughts of Jade and Tori.

_Jade and I staying apart… it's for the best. But Tori and I? I have to find someway to fix that. I mean… she is my friend… who kissed me… even though she already had a boyfriend…_

Andre still at this point was clueless to the fact that Tori had lied about seeing someone. Seeing as Tori and him rarely talked since their "kiss", it's no wonder that he still didn't know.

What sucked even more was that while suppressing his feelings for Jade once again, Andre once again found himself feeling something for Tori again.

But it wasn't what you're thinking.

* * *

Andre felt pretty bad that things had to go sour between him and his best friend.

_Things can't go on like this anymore. I'm tired of not having my best friend to talk to. I settled things with Jade. I now need to fix things with Tori._

But as of lately, Tori has been constantly trying to avoid Andre.

Mostly because she was embarrassed by the surprise kiss that she planted on him more than a month ago.

But she slowly felt as if she would be able to live past it… until she remembered how deep her feelings were for Andre.

_Why couldn't I have control myself that night? *sighs* And why didn't I tell him that I wasn't really seeing someone… knowing Andre, that's probably why he rejected me… along with his confessions of undying passion for Jade, but that was another story._

* * *

Tori was sitting on the floor by her locker, trying to somehow study her notes for English class, but it was pointless.

_Can't focus for nothing! Been this way ever since that night!_

And she was about to lose even more focus in 3... 2... 1...

"Tori… how are you?" asked Andre, just standing there awkwardly, "Mind if I sit down... and this time can you please try not to run away?"

Tori closed her textbook and gestured for him to sit down.

Sighing anxiously, Tori spoke first.

"Look… I'm really, really sorry that I had kissed you, okay? It was wrong for me to just come at you after your whole talk with Ja-"

Tori quickly realized that Andre never told her about his moment with Jade under the park tree.

"Uhh…" she said, turning red.

"How did you know about me and Jade… Tori… you were there weren't you?"

She couldn't come up with a lie quick enough and just decided to tell the truth.

"Yes, I was there. I arrived earlier than I had told you and I saw you and Jade talking. I grew curious and listened in, but I did it only because I was concerned… Please don't be mad."

Andre wanted to be mad, but he knew better. He wanted to try and mend things between Tori and him, not further the silence between them. One month was enough for him.

"I'm not mad. No point in even being mad." he said, calmly, "So I guess you know everything now, huh?"

"Yeah… but there's one thing that you need to know." said Tori, fumbling with her pen, "I haven't exactly been seeing anyone like I told you. In fact, I haven't been out on a date since I broke up with Steven."

Andre was surprised. He was confused about why Tori would lie about dating someone.

"So when I asked you out that night… you lied and told me that you was seeing someone… and then a day later, you kiss me? Why?"

Looking down, Tori was quiet for a moment and said, "Because you said that it was Jade's idea for you to ask me out."

"Oh." said Andre, realizing where he went wrong, "I didn't mean to make it seem like she influenced me…"

"I understand, you're head over heels for her and you was just trying to move on."

"No, no. It's not that." said Andre, trying to explain himself, "Before this mess started, I was at one point thinking about asking you out."

Tori shrugged it off as a lie.

_He's obviously doing this to save his butt. I don't buy it._

"Andre, just don't. You don't have to lie, okay."

"But that's just it, I'm not lying." he said, with a look of seriousness, "There were several times where I was thinking of asking you out… but after a while… you just seemed so content with us just being friends and so I thought it was best to keep it that way."

Tori could hardly believe what she had just heard. Andre had several times to ask her out, yet chose not to simply to stay friends with her.

A part of her felt relieved, while the other half was upset.

_He was just dying to ask her out the first time he met her… yet he hesitated and eventually decided not to ask me out… ugh, I'm finding it sooo hard to see something positive in all this._

"And I like being friends with you, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't mind being much more." Andre said, continuing to make his point.

" _So why can't we start now?_ "

* * *

There was a slight tremble in Tori's voice.

She felt so eager to start _something_ with Andre.

Anything.

Just as long as she could be with him.

* * *

Andre laid his head back on the lockers and said, "Tori… I really wish I could… but I still have strong feelings for Jade and it really wouldn't be fair for us to start something with my feelings constantly shifting between you two."

Tori sighed sadly and held her head down.

"In order for us to have something, I'd have to be completely over Jade, but as of now... I'm nowhere near that point." he said, as Tori tried her hardest to not cry, "You need to find a guy who's heart would be completely yours, because right now… I'm not that kind of guy and I seriously wouldn't want to put you through a relationship with a guy whose feelings keep shifting. That's why I'm hoping that we could still be friends."

Tori hated every last bit of what was just said, but she felt that there was some truth to it.

She wouldn't want to be in a relationship with Andre if he still had some feelings for Jade.

She wanted him all to herself.

Andre also hated what he had just said, but he knew that it was true.

He didn't want to try having a relationship with Tori and then the next minute thinking about Jade.

He wanted to be Tori, but only if his feelings for Jade were gone.

It was kinda funny. Andre found himself friend zoning both Tori and Jade.

Two girls whom he has feelings for... yet he couldn't be with either of them.

* * *

They sat there for a minute, completely silent.

If it wasn't for Tori speaking up, the uncomfortable silence would have continued.

"I understand. I hate it, but I understand. Friends?" she said, wiping away a tear and holding her hand out to Andre.

"Friends." he responded, shaking Tori's hand.

* * *

"What are you two up to?"

Tori and Andre quickly looked up to see Beck and Jade standing in front of them.

"Nothing… just talking, that's all." said Tori, getting up.

"Yeah, like she said. Just talking." Andre said, getting up as well.

"Okay…" said Beck, confused, "Anyway, are you two still coming to my Christmas party?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" said Tori, smiling.

"I don't know if I can make it this year… I'm still trying to get this song together." Andre said, as he saw that Jade had full eye contact with him.

_First time that she has looked me in the eye in weeks._

"That sucks. It's not a Christmas party without you." said Jade, not losing eye contact.

It was weird how she was talking about him. Andre could have sworn that Jade was pissed off at him, but now he couldn't tell exactly what was going through her head.

"She's right, you do make every Christmas party exciting." added Beck.

After thinking for a second, Andre finally shouted, "Fine! I'll come to the Christmas party. Ya happy?"

"Very." smiled Jade, deviously.

"Can't wait to see you there." said Beck, as he and Jade left.

* * *

Andre felt uncomfortable with how Jade was looking at him. He had a feeling that Jade had something planned for him.

But what?

What exactly was Jade planning?

And what was up with the complete 180 that she had just pulled?

Only time would tell.

And it worried the hell out of Andre.

* * *

The school dismissal bell rang and the students began to leave.

"Hmm, I wonder what Andre and Tori were really talking about?" asked Beck, as he got some books out of his locker.

"I don't know. Why you ask?" said Jade, flipping through the pages of her textbook.

"No reason… well, I've always wondered why Andre never asked out Tori."

This caused Jade to quickly close her textbook.

"What do you mean?"

"I just always thought they would make a great couple." Beck answered, closing his locker, "They seem to have bad luck with most of their relationships and they're always hanging out together."

"But that doesn't mean that they would be perfect together."

"That may be so, but you never know how they would be as a couple."

"Since when are you concerned about their relationship status?"

"Uh, ever since I noticed that most of their relationships don't last very long." replied Beck, placing his arm around Jade, "I mean, c'mon, don't you think that's kinda sad?"

As the two began to walk out of the school, Jade responded, "Yeah, it is… but I just don't see Tori being right for Andre. He could do so much better."

"Wow, that's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"Not at all." said Jade, as they got into Beck's car, "And why are you siding with Tori so much?"

"I'm not siding with anyone; I just think that it's a bit harsh of how you're being so negative about this."

"I'm not being negative. I'm just being honest." Jade stated, as they drove off, "Andre's a good guy, he deserves someone better."

"Okay, so if not Tori, than who?"

Deep down inside, Jade ached to just yell out "Me!", but she knew better and said, "Tricia Philips! She's perfect for him!"

Beck was in disbelief, "Tricia Philips?! The kleptomaniac who used to stalk me? Are you serious?"

Jade didn't really know what to say, "Yeah, I think she… has a certain quality that… only Andre would appreciate."

Beck looked even more confused and said, "Okay, just forget that I even brought up this conversation."

He turned up the radio and focused on driving.

* * *

Jade just sat there and looked out the passenger side window.

_Tricia Philips? Really? I couldn't think of anyone else?_ _**Anyone else?!** _ _And why was Andre talking with Tori? Were they really thinking about getting together?!_

Jade felt more conflicted than ever before.

One minute, she hates Andre for suggesting that they should only be friends.

Next minute, she becomes jealous of seeing him talking with Tori.

At times, Jade really felt like she was unstable and that her emotions were messed up.

Sure, she was still with Beck, but… ugh, this is so complicating to explain.

But I'll try my best…

Okay, here we go.

* * *

Jade really wanted to stay with Beck.

But she also really wanted to be with Andre.

Yet she was also mad at him for "friend zoning" her.

Which doesn't make much sense considering that he was just doing it to maintain the three of theirs relationship.

But Jade's feelings for the both of them had warped her sense of reasoning.

So now Jade was plotting something against Andre for Beck's Christmas party.

No one knew what her plans were… but whatever they were, chances are Andre was **not** going to like them.


	12. Backfired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the night of Beck's Christmas party, and Andre finds himself paranoid of what Jade may or may not be planning.

** Chapter Twelve: Backfired **

It was a chilly Friday night and everyone was on their way to Beck's Christmas Party!

It was sure to be a big extravaganza and a night that no one would ever forget.

Everyone was excited to go… everyone except for one guy.

* * *

Andre Harris was still unsure about going to the party.

He was still worrying about what Jade had up her sleeve and whether or not he was making a big fuss over nothing.

_She was acting so strange… and was too calm when she was talking to me. I could just feel a sinister plot building up inside of her._

He laid there on his bed.

Staring at the ceiling; he thought about what he was going to do.

_Should I stay home or should I go to the party?_

Andre really wanted to go to this Christmas party; all of his friends were going to be there and every previous Christmas party has been pretty damn good.

But on the other hand, he was really worried about what vindictive scheme Jade was going to unleash on him.

Many vile and cruel punishments ran through his head, ranging from filling his pants with fire ants to pouring Ipecac into his drink.

(For those who don't know what Ipecac is, it's a liquid that causes you to vomit uncontrollably.)

_Better to be vomiting uncontrollably than to be poisoned._

He then started to think about the possibility of Jade poisoning him.

But that was ridiculous… Jade wouldn't poison him… would she?

"That's it! I'm not going! I'm definitely not going." he stated, continuing to lay down, "They can all have fun without me."

* * *

**DING-DONG!**

"Who in the world could that be?" asked Andre, getting out of bed and heading towards the front door.

To his surprise, it was Robbie and Beck.

"What are you two doing here?" Andre asked, as the two entered the house, "Shouldn't you two be at the party?"

"We could say the same thing about you." said Beck, "Are you still coming to the party?"

"No, I can't… I'm not really in the mood." lied Andre, trying to sound serious.

"No, no, no. Beck and I knew you would try something like this." responded Robbie, as he and Beck grabbed Andre and forced him outside, "You've been depressed for weeks."

"And this party will be the perfect way to make you feel better." added Beck, opening the passenger side door of his car.

"Guys, seriously. I'm busy… I have too much homework… my grandma needs me to help her paint the oranges…" pleaded Andre, trying to come up with any reason not to go to the party.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're still going to the party." Beck said, as they finally got Andre in Beck's car, "Trust me, its going to be the best party yet."

Andre decided not to fight it; there was no point in it.

He realized that Beck and Robbie were right.

He definitely needed something to cheer him up.

And nothing brings more cheer than a Christmas party!

But wait- there's still the ongoing threat of Jade's revenge.

_I'll just have to keep my eyes open and stay away from her… yeah, that'll work._

* * *

As they drove off towards Beck's house, Andre continued to think about how things were going to go at the party.

_I'll just have to avoid her… simple as that…_

When they finally arrived at the party, Andre was shocked to see just how many people where there.

There had to have been hundreds of people there.

Some of them didn't even go to Hollywood Arts.

Some didn't even live in the same state.

It was that much of an extravaganza.

* * *

One of the few faces that Andre was able to recognize was Cat's.

She was particularly easy to spot considering that she was wearing a Christmas stocking cap with blinking neon lights and carrying around a particularly large, stuffed bag.

"Wow, you sure do look… festive." spoke Andre, as Cat walked towards them.

"Thanks! I got this bag from my brother ever since he got fired from his job at the mall."

"Oh yeah, wasn't your brother the mall Santa?" asked Robbie.

"He used to be, but ever since he did some… things, the cops arrested him."

"Exactly what did he do?" questioned Beck.

"Well, it involved some of the "elves", a rabbi, a toaster, two reindeers, a soccer mom, a stolen van, a satellite dish, and **a lot** of peanut butter."

Knowing that this would turn out to be one story that they would regret hearing, Andre said, "Okay, I think we get the point."

**_Rustle... Rustle..._ **

They were shocked to see that the bag that Cat was holding was moving.

"What's in the bag?" asked Robbie, as Cat placed the bag on the ground.

"To be honest, I have no clue." she smiled, "Have a very, merry Christmas!"

* * *

As Robbie and Cat walked off with her mysterious bag, Andre spotted Jade walking towards him.

"I'll be back… I have to use the bathroom." he said, as he took off running into the house.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Jade, as she kissed Beck.

"Apparently, he had a mighty need to use the bathroom." replied Beck, with his arm around her, "So, how's the party going?"

"Pretty good, but I predict that things will get much, much better as the night goes on." smiled Jade, deviously.

Not sure what Jade meant, Beck simply said, "Okay…" and the two went to join the others in the house.

* * *

After four hours of dancing, drinking, and a fiery duet with Tori, Andre was really enjoying the Christmas party.

Sure, he was still on the lookout for any tricks that Jade might have up her sleeve; but he started to feel like maybe it was nothing at all.

"Hey, Andre. How you liking the party?" asked Jade, who snuck up behind him.

"Jade! H-h-hi! Didn't see you there?" stuttered Andre, calming down from the mini heart attack he'd just had.

"Were you hiding from me?" smiled Jade, "Cause whenever I get near you, you have some reason to leave or you take off running."

Andre was trying to keep himself from panicking.

He couldn't let Jade see that he was worried about what she was going to do to him.

He had to stay calm, stay cool, stay true.

…that sounded so much better in my head…

"No, it's just that things are really busy around here and Beck has me helping out with keeping things from getting out of control… so I really haven't had time to talk to you." he lied, saying what he thought was the best excuse he could come up with.

"Oh, okay… well, here's some punch." said Jade, handing Andre a cup of strawberry punch, "I hope you enjoy it."

As she walked off, she continued to smile at Andre.

Jade had a very pretty smile, but sometimes that smile could look so evil.

When Jade was out of sight, Andre threw the punch over his shoulder, not knowing that he had accidentally hit Sinjin in the face.

"Mmm, strawberry." said Sinjin, wiping the punch from his face.

* * *

It was almost 11:30 and the crowd was starting to diminish.

As he was getting ready to leave, Andre received a text from Beck.

_{Need help. Drunk guy passed out in my RV.}_

_It's not one hell of a party unless you have a passed out drunk guy somewhere._

Andre laughed at this and walked out the backdoor.

The night had gone spectacularly great.

He had the most fun in quite some time and managed to get some numbers from some pretty fine ladies.

One in particular, Hope Quincy, seemed really interested in Andre.

 _Might have to call her up later._ He thought, as he finally made it to the RV.

Andre had just had one of the best night of his life and now he was about to help his best friend get a drunk guy out of his RV.

Talk about a hilarious way to end a great night.

Before he was about to knock on the door, Andre noticed that the door was slightly open.

Not seeing it as being strange, he opened the door.

"Kay, I'm here. Where's this drunk-"

But he couldn't finish his sentence.

He simply rushed out of the RV and didn't look back.

He was traumatized. He tried to shake off what he had just saw, but the image was burnt into his mind.

* * *

As he made his way into his house, Andre had to get a drink of water.

He felt like he wanted to throw up.

He felt so sick after what he had just saw.

When he got to his room, he sat on the floor near his bed and tried his hardest to forget what had happened.

He took out his phone and looked at the text that Beck had sent him.

"Why would he send me a text to come to his RV if…"

And it was at that moment that Andre realized the ugly truth…

* * *

She gazed at the text and smiled.

_Everything went exactly as planned._

She then deleted the text as soon as she heard someone coming towards the RV.

"That's the last of them. Everyone is gone now." asked Beck, as he entered the RV, "Have you seen my phone?"

"You left it on the table." replied Jade, handing him his cell.

"That… that was really weird, wasn't it?" asked Beck, as he buttoned up his shirt, "I wonder what caused Andre to just come in here like that."

"I have no clue." said Jade, trying not to laugh, "Maybe he was looking for you or something."

"Could be." responded Beck, "I thought you had locked the door when we came in here earlier."

Jade was waiting for Beck to ask her this. She had _every_ little detail planned out.

"That lock has been pretty faulty lately. You really need to change it soon." she answered, without hesitation.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It has been acting up at times." said Beck, sitting by Jade, "You should get dressed so I can give you a ride home."

After Beck left the RV, Jade began to get her clothes together.

She couldn't help but smile.

She couldn't help but wonder how things were going for Andre.

* * *

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, throwing his phone at the wall, "This was her plan… she wanted me to see the two of them… ugh!"

Knocking stuff over and throwing things around the room, Andre was just full of rage.

_That look on her face… she was waiting for me to come in the RV. Her eyes… fuck… she was enjoying it and… what kind of sick twisted game is she playing?_

After calming down a bit, Andre looked at the mess that was his room.

"This is so fucked up!"

* * *

Pulling up to Jade's house, Beck kissed her on the cheek and said, "I'll call you in the morning; I have to spend the rest of the night getting a pest out of the RV."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, a cricket found its way through the open door." Beck explained, irritably, "When I was looking for my car keys, I heard it somewhere near the fish tank, but when I got there it was somewhere near the bed. I'm going to be up all night trying to catch it."

Jade placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "Aww, good luck with that."

"Thanks. I'm gonna need it."

Getting out of his car, Jade walked up her walkway and waited for Beck to be out of sight.

Once he was out of view, Jade turned around and began walking down the street.

She had someone she had to visit first.

And they were only a block away.

* * *

Slowly calming down from his earlier tirade, Andre was watching cartoons while lying on the sofa in the den.

Not even the zaniness of _Tom and Jerry_ could get his mind off of what he saw earlier.

_**DING-DONG!** _

* * *

Turning off the TV, Andre got up to answer the door.

_It's 12:45! Who in the hell could this be?!_

As he opened the door, he felt his rage building back up.

"Hi." she smiled.

As Andre began to close the door, Jade placed her foot out to stop it.

"Isn't that a bit rude?" she asked, pushing the door open and strutting into the house.

"You're one to talk. After that little stunt you pulled."

"Stunt? Why I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Bullshit! You somehow got Beck's phone and texted me to come to the RV so I could see…"

"Go ahead… say it."

"You're disgusting."

"Aww, don't be shy. Just say it. You saw the two of us _fucking_ around and it made you mad. It made you jealous."

Andre had to walk away from Jade.

"God! The look on your face said it all. You so wished that you was in his place. Didn't you?" she laughed, walking over to Andre, "Doesn't feel so good, huh? It hurts, doesn't it?"

"I knew you were capable of many things, but this… this is your lowest point ever." stated Andre, turning to face Jade, "But what I still don't understand is why… why are you doing this? Why are you so mad at me?"

" **BECAUSE YOU REJECTED ME!** "

Andre could see that Jade was starting to cry. Crying, yet still angry.

"I put my feeling out there… all those feeling that I had for you… and as easy as 1-2-3, you say, 'Let's be friends'. And to make matters worse, you move on with none other than Tori?! How desperate can you get?!"

"Well what did you want me to say?! 'Forget about Beck and be with me'?! Are you even in your right mind right now?!"

Jade huffed and walked away from Andre.

"I admitted that I loved you. That you had a strong hold on me. That I couldn't stop thinking about you. Hell, I once woke up sweating from a dream that I had about you… You see, I'm not a very reasonable person. I revealed a side to you that I rarely show anyone else, mainly cause I'm afraid of what someone would do… but you didn't even care at all! And it killed me to have had to go through that!"

Andre just stood there.

"That's why I did this. That's why I came up with this grand scheme. I had to hurt you, the same way you hurt me."

Hearing this, Andre walked over to Jade.

"For your information, I _did_ care. It was strange to see this whole new side to you that was vulnerable yet caring. The weeks after that afternoon were a living hell. Because I knew that things would be much, much harder now that our feelings were out in the open. But… I was slowly getting used to us just being friends; not because I wanted to, but because I had to. For the sake that our relationships stayed together. And to be honest, there's nothing between Tori and me. We're _just_ friends."

* * *

A weird feeling came over Jade, she slowly began to feel sad.

That once rage filled, yet ecstatic feeling was gone.

She now felt depressed.

Miserable.

Regretful.

And any other adjective that means "feeling like shit."

"Andre… I…"

"Let me finish… After tonight, I completely regret ever having any hope that anything real could **_ever_** come between us. After I saw just how despicable you could get… I no longer want anything to do with you."

Andre walked over to the front door and opened it.

Jade looked completely flabbergasted.

She couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"You can't be serious…"

"Dead serious. Don't speak to me. Don't text me. Don't call me. Don't even look at me. I'm done."

"No, wait… this isn't supposed to be happening. You're not supposed to be like this!"

"So exactly how am I supposed to be? What exactly is my final part to play in your _big_ _plan_?"

Jade began feeling confused and scared, "I-I don't know! I didn't want you to hate me… I-I can't be here anymore."

Rushing out the door, Jade quickly made her way back home.

Not feeling anymore concern for the girl, Andre plainly shut the door and sat back on the couch to watch cartoons.

_I'm done with all of her bullshit. If peace of mind meant not being friends or anything with Jade, then so be it._

* * *

As Jade entered her house, she ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door.

Sobbing uncontrollably, she laid on her bed and curled up.

Nothing much could be said from her.

It was such a miserable sight.

Her ploy of revenge backfired on her.

She continued to cry for several minutes…

…until she was finally able to go to sleep.

But not even a peaceful dream could wake her from this nightmare.


End file.
